Megaludis, Kennedy, Pami, Burak go for gold; seven Americans in medal match at Paris International
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
| Jimmy Kennedy goes big in his semifinal match against Heorhi Kaliyeu (Belarus) at the Paris International. Photo: Richard Immel, USAW. |
PARIS – It was a sensational morning for the Americans competing at the Paris International as seven of the nine U.S. athletes have qualified for to wrestle in a medal match.
Men’s freestyle competitors Nico Megaludis (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC), Jimmy Kennedy (Ann Arbor, Mich./New York AC/Michigan RTC), Chase Pami (Philadelphia, Pa./Sunkist Kids/Pennsylvania RTC) and Nathan Burak (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC) will go for gold this evening at the INSEP training facility in Paris, France.
Bill Farrell International champion Megaludis was near-unstoppable in the morning session, picking up a 10-0 technical fall over multiple-time Henri Deglane Challenge bronze medalist Youssoup Deliev of France and a 9-0 victory over Dzimchyk Rynchynau of Belarus. He will battle Italy’s Torneo Citta a Sassari champion Givi Davidovi for the 57-kg gold medal.
Kennedy picked up three solid wins at 65 kg, going unscored upon throughout. He opened with a pair of victories over American opponents B.J. Futrell (Philadelphia, Pa./Titan Mercury WC/Pennsylvania RTC) and Nick Dardanes (Iowa City, Iowa/Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC). In the semifinals, Kennedy imposed his dominance on 2016 European silver medalist Heorhi Kaliyeu of Belarus, winning 10-0. He will face Israel’s Emrach Gasanov in the championship bout tonight.
In his first international outing since the 2015 Intercontinental Cup, Pami posted two technical falls to navigate to the 70 kg finals. He opened with a 10-0 win over Christian Jonsson of Sweden followed by a 11-0 victory over American Jason Welch (Evanston, Ill./Titan Mercury WC). Pami squares off against 2014 World University bronze medalist Zsombor Gulyas for the gold.
Competing in his first international competition, Burak scored a 7-2 decision over Wladimir Remel of Germany and a 10-0 technical fall over Maxime Francois of France to qualify for the 97 kg finals. In the gold-medal match he will face a stiff test from three-time World Military Championships medalist and 2016 European silver medalist Ivan Yankouski of Belarus.
Although suffering defeats to U.S. teammates, Futrell and Welch will wrestle for bronze medals this evening. Futrell will face Kaliyeu of Belarus for the 65-kg bronze and Welch will wrestle Jonsson of Sweden for bronze at 70 kg.
The lone American not wrestling for a medal in men’s freestyle is Dardanes who went 1-2 on the day with losses coming at the hands of Kennedy and Futrell.
On the Greco-Roman side, Daniel Miller (Camp Lejeune, N.C./Marines) found a place in the 98-kg bronze medal match with a 1-1 record in the morning session. He won his first bout against Hungary’s Adam Mertse 5-0 before falling to Norway’s Felix Baldauf 9-0. Miller will face Robert Ersek of Hungary in the bronze-medal match.
It was a tough day for 2017 U.S. Senior Nationals champion Pat Smith (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm), who lost his only match to Armenia’s Rafayel Aleksanyan by technical fall, 8-0.
The Paris International medal matches will launch this evening at 4 p.m. local time/10 a.m. (ET). Complete brackets, results and a webcast for this event can be found at unitedworldwrestling.org.
PARIS INTERNATIONAL
Jan. 28-29 at INSEP in Paris, France
U.S. men’s freestyle results
57 kg/125.5 lbs. - Nico Megaludis, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
WIN Youssoup Deliev (France), 10-0
WIN Dzimchyk Rynchynau (Belarus), 9-0
Vs. Givi Davidovi (Italy)
65 kg/143 lbs. - B.J. Futrell, Philadelphia, Pa (Titan Mercury WC/Pennsylvania RTC)
LOSS Jimmy Kennedy (United States), 6-0
WIN Nick Dardanes (United States), 10-0
Vs. Heorhi Kaliyeu (Belarus)
65 kg/143 lbs. - Nick Dardanes, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC)
WIN Michael Asselstine (Canada), 9-0
LOSS Jimmy Kennedy (United States), 2-0
LOSS B.J. Futrell (United States), 10-0
65 kg/143 lbs. - Jimmy Kennedy, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Michigan RTC)
WIN B.J. Futrell (United States), 6-0
WIN Nick Dardanes (United States), 2-0
WIN Heorhi Kaliyeu (Belarus), 10-0
Vs. Emrach Gasanov (Israel)
70 kg/154 lbs. - Chase Pami, Philadelphia, PA (Sunkist Kids/Pennsylvania RTC)
WIN Christian Jonsson (Sweden), 10-0
WIN Jason Welch (United States), 11-0
Vs. Zsombor Gulyas (Hungary)
70 kg/154 lbs. - Jason Welch, Evanston, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC)
WIN Christophe Clavier (France), Fall
LOSS Chase Pami (United States), 11-0
Vs. Christian Jonsson (Sweden)
97 kg/215 lbs. - Nathan Burak, Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye WC)
WIN Wladimir Remel (Germany), 7-2
WIN Maxime Francois (France), 10-0
Vs. Ivan Yankouski (Belarus)
U.S. Greco-Roman results
71 kg/156 lbs. – Pat Smith, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
LOSS Rafayel Aleksanyan (Armenia), 8-0
98 kg/215 lbs. - Daniel Miller, Camp Lejeune, N.C. (Marines)
WIN Adam Mertse (Hungary), 5-0
LOSS Felix Baldauf (Norway), 9-0
Vs. Robert Ersek (Hungary)
